Rise of the Swedish - ARWS Rankings June 2015

News Release / 02.07.2015

The latest rankings have just been released and while the top two teams haven't changed, Columbia Vidaraid in number 1 and Seagate in number 2, the march of the Swedish adventure racing teams towards the top has begun.

This recent update of the Adventure Racing World Rankings includes results from Godzone Adventure in March, Tierra Viva in April, Raid Gallaecia in May and Expedition Africa in June.

Swedish team Peak Performance have made the strongest move, jumping into the world top ten  (6th position) for the first time with their consistent results including 2nd place in Tierra Viva and 3rd place at Expedition Africa.

The next ranked Swedish team, Sweco Adventure, is in 12th position. They gathered 55 points at Expedition Africa.

Team Swedish Armed Forces Adventure have had a great start to the year winning Tierra Viva which catapulted them from 32nd place into the top 20 to take up 15th place.  Their debut last year placing 9th at the AR World Championship shows this will be a team to watch in the near future.

Haglofs Silva may have turned their bad luck streak around by beating world number 2, Seagate, in an epic race at the Raid Gallaecia in May.  After three and a half days of intense racing Haglofs Silva broke away from Seagate in the last leg to win the race and the 100 ranking points.  One time ranked number 3 in the world, they are now climbing the ladder again and are the fourth Swedish team in the top 20 and positioned in 17th.

The world ranking list counts a team's four best results over the last two years of racing, with only the most consistent and highest placed teams reaching the top. Like the sport itself, the rankings are an endurance test of epic proportions and reflect a team's performance at AR World Series races over time.  The top 25 teams in the world all have at least 2 results counting to their ranking, and half of the top 10 teams have the maximum number 4 races counting to their ranking.

The next AR World Rankings are due for release in October and will include the four series Qualifiers: Expedition Alaska in Alaska, Cameco Cowboy Tough in Wyoming USA, XPD Expedition Race in Australia and Raid in France in France.  

The focus of the series is now shifting to North America, where Expedition Alaska is currently underway and a number of top USA and Australian teams are battling the remote wilderness, including Tecnu Adventure Racing who are currently ranked 4th in the world.  

Following this race will be the Cameco Cowboy Tough, also in North America, and will see a number of world top 20 teams in action including Tecnu (ranked 4th), Swedish Armed Forces Adventure (ranked 15th) and Yogaslackers (ranked 13th).

August will then feature the long time Australian Qualifier, XPD Expedition Race, and see some top teams fighting for ranking points and a spot at the AR World Championship.  South African team Merrell Adventure Addicts (ranked 10th) will have the psychological advantage having already won a Qualifier this year, but will have their work cut out racing against French team Raidlight 400 (ranked 8th), Bivouac Inov-8 (equal ranked 10th) and defending champions from Australia Mountain Designs (ranked 28th).

The final race before the AR World Championship will be Raid in France in September.  Arverne Outdoor, 3rd place at Raid in France last year, are the highest ranked team (7th) currently signed up.  Raidlight 400 will be defending their win last year and are ranked only one position behind them (8th).

For more information on the AR World Rankings and a detailed list of all AR World Ranked teams, please visit http://www.arworldseries.com/rankings.htm   

1 - Columbia Vidaraid - 625

2 - Seagate - 550

3 - France Green Caffte Costa Rica - 473

4 - Tecnu Adventure Racing - 413

5 - adidas TERREX - 408

6 - Peak Performance - 296

7 - Arverne Outdoor - 249

8 - Ecuador Movistar - 248

8 - Raidlight 400 - 248

10 - Bivouac Inov-8 - 238

10 - Merrell Adventure Addicts - 238

12 - Sweco Adventure - 213

13 - GearJunkie Yogaslackers - 200

14 - BMS Multisport - 198

15 - Bones - 188

15 - Swedish Armed Forces Adventure - 188

17 - Haglöfs Silva - 185

18 - QuasarLontra Kailash - 176

19 - R'ADYS Team Switzerland - 160

20 - Black Hill/ OpavaNet - 145

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